March 2013 sees the annual meeting of the two legislative and consultative bodies of China, where major policies are decided and key government officials appointed. The National People's Congress (NPC) is held in the Great Hall of the People in China's capital, Beijing, and with 2,987 members, is the largest parliament in the world. It gathers alongside the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) whose members represent various groups of society.

China will split its railways ministry in two and switch control of its administrative functions to the transport ministry, a top official said Sunday, in an effective abolition of the scandal-plagued body.

"The railways ministry will no longer be maintained," Ma Kai, secretary general of the State Council, China's cabinet, was to tell the National People's Congress parliament meeting in Beijing, according to a copy of his speech.

The body's commercial functions will be taken over by a new China Railway Corporation, it said, adding that "there is a need to separate the administrative and the commercial sides of the railways".

The plan is to “dismantle” the ministry, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a report on institutional reform to be submitted to the National People’s Congress parliament meeting in Beijing later.

The ministry’s commercial functions will be taken over by a new China Railway Corporation, it added.

The railway system has been one of China’s flagship development projects in recent years and the country now boasts the world’s largest high-speed network.

But the expansion – which has cost hundreds of billions of dollars – has seen widespread allegations of corruption and former railways minister Liu Zhijun, who was sacked in 2011, is awaiting trial on graft charges.

In July 2011 a high-speed crash in the eastern city of Wenzhou killed at least 40 people, sparking a torrent of public criticism that authorities compromised safety in their rush to expand the network.

Investment this year is due to reach 650 billion yuan (US$105 billion), Xinhua reported in January, up 30 per cent on the last year budget, although actual rail investment in China usually turns out higher than the planned figure.

Beijing spends heavily on infrastructure to bolster economic growth, although senior leaders regularly speak of the need to rebalance the economy.

By the end of last year, China had 98,000 kilometres of railway in operation, the second-longest network in the world, and the globe’s biggest high-speed rail network with 9,356 kilometres of lines, officials have said.

It includes the world’s longest high-speed rail route, a 2,298-kilometre line between Beijing and Guangzhou that whisks passengers from the capital to the southern commercial hub in just eight hours, compared with 22 previously, which opened in December.